Mail-bag catcher and deliverer.



PATENTED APR. '7, 1908. G. W. HARRIS.

2 SHEETS SHEET 2.

MAIL BAGOATCHER AND DELIVERER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 1,1907.

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GEORGE WILLIAM HARRIS, OF SHELBY, OHIO.

MAIL-BAG CATCHER AND DELIVERER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 1, 1907.

Patented A ril 7, 1908.

Serial No. 395,450.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. HARRIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Shelby, Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catchers and Deliverers, of which the following is a specification.

My said invention relates to improvements in mail bag catchers and deliverers.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide a simple and economical form of apparatus which will be capable of being used with safety and certainty both for delivering one bag from the car and for taking another on board.

Other objects are to provide an apparatus capable of being reversed for the travel of the car in either direction thus specially adapting it for use upon single track roads, and also to construct the apparatus so that the receiving and delivering apparatus shall be duplicates .of each other, thereby simplifying the construction.

With these and other objects in view the invention includes the novel features of con struction and arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and particularly set forth in the appended claims.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a plan view. Fig. 2 is a front elevation. Fig. 3 is an end view. Fig. 4 is a plan view showing one set of apparatus carried by a car and the other at the delivery station.

Referring by reference characters to this drawing the numeral 1 designates a sufficient portion of a mail car to illustrate the appli cation of the invention and 2 a post or other suitable support in appropriate relation to the track and mail bag transfer station. The car and post are each provided with a bag holding device A, A and a bag catching device B, B and as these are duplicates of each other a detailed description of one pair will answer for both. The holding device for example A, comprises a sheet metal member 3 which is of approximately D shape in cross section and is held by arms or braces 4 and 4 to a bar 5 suitably supported from the door post 6 of the car.- In its side this member 3 is provided with a slot or opening 7 running from end to end, the slot or opening at the front end being flared or of the member'insures the entrance of the catching device thereinto, notwithstanding the swaying of the car.

The bag is provided witha permanently attached loop 10 which fits over the rear end of the body 3 and against the abutment formed by the embracing portion 4 of the rear arm 4, and by which means the bag is suspended in position tobe delivered. The loop is retained upon the end of the body 3 by suitable retaining means, releasable automatically by the catching device, and of which there are preferably two, one at the top and one at the bottom. These are in the form of levers 11 and 11 pivoted in suitable casings 12 and 12 and under tension of springs 13 and 13 which tend constantly to separate the ends of said arms which carry the loop engaging projections 14. Links 15 are pivotally connected to the arms and eX- tend through the slots 16 in the top and bottom of the shell or body 3 and are provided with abutments or shoulders which are adapted to engage with the end walls of the slots when the arms have been drawn towards each other and thus hold them with their ends in position to hold the bag supporting loop upon the end of the body 3 against accidental displacement. When the parts are in this position the links overlap and together extend clear across the interior of the shell or body and thus it is impossible for the catch ing device to pass through the hollow body without tripping the levers and releasing the loop which is then carried off from the end of said body by said catching device.

In order to prevent any subsequent accidental jumping of the loop from the catching device due to recoil or jar the latter may be made with an arrow shaped head as shown.

My preferred manner of mounting the shell or body 3 will now be' described in detail. The front arm 4 is pivotally connected to the front end of the bar 5 at 17 while the rear arm is elongated and has a sliding connection With the rear end, preferably by tongue and slot connections as shown. A spring 18 tends to keep the rear end pressed normally outward away from the bar so as to incline it towards the catching device. This insures the latter passing behind the releasing links and at the same time permits the body to yield to prevent undue contact and damage of parts. The bar 5 is pivotally connected by a horizontal pivot bolt 19 with a second bar 20 so that the position of the body may be reversed when the car is to be run in the opposite direction. A stop 21 limits the relative movement of these bars. The bar 20 is connected by a bracket 22 to a vertical post 23 journaled in suitable bearings so that it may be turned to swing the catching and delivering devices into and out of position.

The catching device has its end seated in a socket 24 and held by a key 25 so that its position maybe reversed also.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is 1. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a suitable catching device, of bag holding means comprising a bag carrying loop, a member having one end adapted to support said loop and having a passage to guide said catching device to the loop, retaining means for holding said loop upon the said member, and means located within the passage in the path of the catching device for automatically releasing the retaining means, substantially as described.

2. In combination with a suitable catching device, a bag holding device comprising a bag carrying loop, a member having one end adapted to support said loop and having a passage to guide said catching device to the loop, upper and lower retaining devices carried by said member and adapted to engage opposite sides of the loop to hold it in place, springs tending to force said retaining device outwardly out of engagement with the loop, and catches for holding said retaining means in engagement with the loop against the tension of the springs, said catches having parts projecting into the guide in the path of the catching arm, substantially as described.

3. In combination with a suitable catching device, a bag carrying loop, a member having one end adapted to support said loop and having a passage to guide said catching device to the loop, retaining means for holding the loop upon said member, means projecting into the guide and adapted to be operated by the catching device to automatically release the retaining means, and means whereby the position of said member may be reversed, substantially as described.

4. In combination with a suitable catching device, bag holding means comprising a bag carrying loop, a bar pivoted upon a horizontal pivot, a member connected to said bar and having one end adapted to support said loop and having a passage to guide the catching device to the loop, and automatically releasable means for holding the loop upon said member, substantially as described.

5. In combination, a suitable catching device, a bag holding device comprising a bag carrying loop, a horizontal bar, a member having one end pivotally connected to the bar upon a vertical pivot, and its other end slidingly connected to the said bar, said other end being adapted to support the bag carrying loop and said member having a guide leading to the loop, and a spring interposed between the bar and the movable end of the member tending to force the latter outwardly away from the bar, substantially as described.

6. In combination with a suitable catching device, a complementary device comprising a vertical pivoted post, a horizontal bar carried by said post, a second bar pivoted to said horizontal bar upon a horizontal pivot so as to be reversible, a stop device for holding said bars in parallel relation, a hollow member having one end. pivoted to said second named bar and the other end slidingly connect-ed thereto, a spring for pressing the slidingly connected end outward away from the bar, said member having-an open side and flaring walls constituting a guide, a bag carrying loop adapted to be supported upon the movable end of said member, spring pressed levers having ends adapted to en gage said loop, and catches pivotally connected to said levers and extending through the slots in the walls of said member and having shoulders adapted to engage the walls of the slots, said catches projecting into the path of the catching device and being moved thereby on the passage of the same through the member to release the levers, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE WILLIAM HARRIS. l/Vitnesses HENRY E. COOPER, JAMES M. SPEAK. 

